The invention relates to a system and a method for providing a digital three-dimensional data model of a component, in particular of an aircraft component.
Aircraft comprise a multiplicity of components which are mounted in the aircraft fuselage in accordance with plans and construction documents. Examples of such components are pipelines or electrical lines that are laid in the aircraft fuselage of the aircraft. During the mounting of such components, it can happen that a fitter has to deviate from the specification of the construction document. By way of example, if when laying an electrical line the fitter ascertains that this electrical line crosses a pipeline or a support, the electrical line has to be laid around the already laid pipeline or the support and thus deviates from the original laying specification. This change process leads to a change notification DQN (Design Query Note), which is incorporated into a digital three-dimensional model of the object.
FIG. 1 shows the conventional procedure for providing a digital three-dimensional data model in the case of a component, in particular in the case of an aircraft component.
A digital three-dimensional model of an object, for example of an aircraft, is stored in a database, said model also being referred to as DMU (Digital Mock Up). From this digital model, two-dimensional construction documents are derived, for example views of the component to be laid on paper for the respective fitter. On the basis of these construction documents, which, besides technical drawings, can also contain textual explanations and instructions, a fitter lays a line within the aircraft fuselage, by way of example. If the fitter, when carrying out the line laying, has to deviate from the construction document of the object or the desired specification, an alteration notification DQN is generated in order to document the change made. This change notification or complaint notification BM is created manually and passed to the development department or the Design Office (DO), which examines the change proposal or solution proposal made by the employee or fitter. The complaint notification BM or the change proposal DQN can also contain photographs of the change location in addition to changes in the technical drawings and textual observations or written indications. In this case, in some instances a large number of photographs are created when there are complex changes.
If the development engineers or technicians in the Design Office arrive at the opinion that the change proposal effectively eliminates the fault that has occurred, or the deviation, the change is incorporated into the existing three-dimensional digital model. In the case of a complaint notification BM, the development engineers themselves design changes and incorporate them into the three-dimensional model, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Two-dimensional construction documents can then once again be derived from the changed three-dimensional model.
The conventional procedure illustrated in FIG. 1 has some considerable disadvantages, however. The change proposals DQN created on site, for example during the mounting of a line, have a two-dimensional data format and are object-related. The incorporation of further design solutions into the three-dimensional model and the derivation of the construction documents, in particular of the drawings, are performed at a later time by the Design Office, or by the development department. Within this time period, the actual component state or mounting state is at a further-developed stage than the defined desired state of the three-dimensional data model. This entails various risks. The obsolete DMU or the no longer up-to-date three-dimensional model of the object and the no longer up-to-date set of construction documents derived therefrom make it more difficult to assess and rectify further technical complaints, since already existing change proposals or complaint notifications that have not yet been incorporated have to be taken into account for a correct assessment with regard to the procedure for further necessary changes that have occurred.
A further disadvantage of the conventional procedure illustrated in FIG. 1 is that a media break occurs between the two-dimensional correction proposals or change notifications and the three-dimensional data model of the respective object. The change notifications or complaint notifications created on site, which in some instances also contain photographs, have to be incorporated manually into the three-dimensional data model by a technician after examination. If an error occurs during inputting or incorporation, this input error or this erroneous correction of the data model can in turn generate further errors that are possibly identified at a later time during mounting and, for their part, lead to new change notifications or complaint notifications. Consequently, the manual inputting of the necessary changes into the three-dimensional model is not only time-consuming but in turn susceptible to errors.
A further disadvantage of the conventional procedure illustrated in FIG. 1 is that upon the submission of complaint notifications BM or change proposals, which can in some instances contain a multiplicity of photographs, these can be interpreted only with difficulty by the technicians in the Design Office or development department, and so queries may become necessary.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and a method for providing a digital three-dimensional data model of a component wherein necessary changes can be incorporated into the data model in a simple and reliable manner.